The children in Zanzibar Land were war orphans from around the world.^[1] They were saved from various conflicts by mercenary leader Big Boss, who intended to train and put them in the battlefield.^[2] The children admired Big Boss, with some seeing him as a father figure,^[3] while many of them hated warfare due to their past experiences.^[4][5] The children would often play around the various areas of Zanzibar Land,^[6] while avoiding the soldiers on patrol.^[7] The children appeared to share a mutual familiarity with Holly White, as she was known to them as “the blond lady.”^[8] Similarly, they were also well-acquainted with the former STB agent Gustava Heffner, even when the latter was disguised as one of the Zanzibar Land guards.^[9][10]

During the Zanzibar Land Disturbance in 1999, Solid Snake encountered many of these children,^[2] sometimes gathering valuable intelligence from them.^{[11][12][13][14][15][7][9][10][16][17][18][19]} Big Boss told some of them to report to him if they saw Snake.^[8]